Thirty-two-year-old Alexandre Mattiussi has been on our radar since launching Ami, his line of smart, approachable menswear, two years ago. And tomorrow, the Paris-based designer will celebrate a notable milestone: the opening of his first stand-alone boutique. A homey converted atelier in Paris’ 3rd arrondissement, Ami (which, you’ve no doubt noticed, is a play on the designer’s name as well as the French word for “friend”), fuses design elements Mattiussi holds dear, such as the parquet floors of a Parisian apartment and decor you’d find in a tailor’s workshop.
Mattiussi learned the ropes designing for houses like Dior, Givenchy, and Marc Jacobs, and his own line reflects his luxurious take on easy, masculine dressing. “I really wanted to do clothes that I could wear and afford,” explained the designer during a preview. “Ami is clothing for me and my friends. It’s not intimidating, it’s not too expensive, and it’s definitely not pretentious.”
On the racks (which he also designed) hang thick mustard and burgundy wool-alpaca sweaters, shirts in Japanese poplin, checked overcoats, and wool cashmere suits the designer calls “city but casual.” Like his clothes, the prices are “not intimidating,” too, starting at about $170 and hovering in the mid-three digits (although one of his sheep-lined denim jackets runs about $1,900). Also on offer are accessories like sleek brogues and floral-print baseball caps by the niche brand Larose (the first of several collaborative projects Ami has lined up). “I like the idea of a multifaceted collection,” says Mattiussi. “It’s not too conceptual or intellectual. It’s like soup: If all the ingredients are good and the result is good, we serve it up.”
Ami is located at 109 boulevard Beaumarchais, Paris, +33-9-83-27-65-28.
—Tina Isaac
Photo: Yann Deret
No comments:
Post a Comment